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﻿Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Sunday expressed optimism over the outcome of the third Quadrilateral Group Meeting between senior officials from Afghanistan-Pakistan-US-China in Islamabad, and hoped for a date to be set within three weeks for direct peace negotiations with the insurgent Taliban.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also welcomed the move by the QCG for drawing up a peace roadmap with the resurgent group. According to MOFA officials, in the meeting, the Afghan and Pakistani officials have committed to talk with force with the groups which do not endorse a peaceful settlement - a move which has been widely welcomed by the US and Chinese officials. "An agreement was also made that the four member countries of the QCG will continue their efforts for setting out a date for direct negotiations between the authorized representatives of the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban group. The date can be finalized by the end of February 2016," Ahmad Shekib Mustaghni, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. "As far as the issue of the groups which do not endorse peace talks is concerned, Afghanistan and Pakistan have committed and agreed to deal with them with all available resources and continue their strong struggle against them," he said.